Shipping container for supporting fragile panels

ABSTRACT

A shipping container for detachably supporting fragile panels therein, said shipping container comprising a floor and an upright panel extending upwardly in relation to said floor. Panel restraining means in adjacent surfaces of said floor and said upright panel support said fragile panels in spaced-apart generally parallel planes. A clamp panel is detachably connected to the shipping container and upright and spaced apart from the upright panel with the fragile panels between the upright panel and the clamp panel. Removable rigid panel connecting bars of substantially identical lengths removably are connected to a top edge of said fragile panels and held between the upright panel and the clamp panel. Resilient means restrain said connecting bars from displacement by a compression force exerted on opposed ends of said panel connecting bars.

FIELD OF THE APPLICATION

The present disclosure relates to a shipping container for immovably anddetachably supporting fragile panels, such as glass panels.

BACKGROUND OF THE ART

It is often necessary to ship fragile panels, such as glass panels, todifferent locations. For example, glass panels are often shipped towindow and door manufacturers for assembly. These panels often are ofvarying sizes and there is a need to provide a shipping container whichcan accommodate and safely restrain these panels of different sizes. Theglass panels also need to be disposed in a spaced-apart manner withthese individual glass panels engaged with a restraining means. Often,glass panels are shipped in stack form with the panels separated fromone another by cardboard spacers and the stack is then shrink-wrappedwith a plastic film to hold the stack together and prevent theindividual glass panels from moving with respect to one another. Thisform of shipment has not proven satisfactory. For instance, if aparticular panel in the middle of the stack is required, many panelsmust be manipulated to reach the desired panel.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,206 describes a packaging for supporting glasspanels wherein each glass panel is restrained from movement by elasticcords which are securable to span an outer corner of an associated glasspanel with the aid of a support member engagable with the outer cornerof the glass panels. The support members are provided with elasticrestraining means to prevent the elastic cords from lateral displacementwith respect thereto. These elastic cords are stretched and unstretcheddue to multiple uses and are also subjected to temperature variationsand may consequently lose some elasticity over time. Also, theinstallation of these elastic cords is a slow and labor-intensiveprocess and the elastic cords can become disconnected if the supportblock disengages with the corner of the glass or during the effects ofshocks from a transport vehicle traveling over a rough and bumpysurface.

There is the need to provide a shipping container which can immovablyand detachably support fragile panels, such as glass panels in a securedmanner while overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE APPLICATION

It is an aim of the present disclosure to provide a novel shippingcontainer for supporting fragile panels.

A feature of the present invention is to provide a shipping containerfor immovably and detachably supporting fragile panels, such as glasspanels and which prevents movement of the glass panels in the verticalor horizontal planes and wherein the glass panels are easily secured inthe container.

According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the presentdisclosure provides a shipping container for detachably supportingfragile panels therein, said shipping container comprising a floor andan upright panel extending upwardly in relation to said floor, panelrestraining means in adjacent surfaces of said floor and said uprightpanel for supporting said fragile panels in spaced-apart generallyparallel planes, a clamp panel adapted to be detachably connected to theshipping container and be upright and spaced apart from the uprightpanel with the fragile panels between the upright panel and the clamppanel, removable rigid panel connecting bars of substantially identicallengths removably connectable to a top edge of said fragile panels andheld between the upright panel and the clamp panel, and resilient meansto restrain said connecting bars from displacement by a compressionforce exerted on opposed ends of said panel connecting bars.

Further in accordance with the present disclosure, there is provided amethod of detachably supporting fragile panels in a shipping container,said container having a floor and an upright panel extending upwardly inrelation to said floor, said upright panel and floor having panelrestraining means in adjacent surfaces thereof, said method comprising:positioning one or more of said fragile panels upright and supportinglyengaged in a bottom edge and adjacent side edge thereof by saidrestraining means, positioning a removable panel connecting bar engagedwith a top edge of an associated one of said one or more fragile panels,and restraining said panel connecting bars with compression force byconnecting a clamp panel to the shipping container in such a way thatthe panel connection bars are held between the clamp panel and theupright panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing the construction of ashipping container of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the construction of panelconnecting bars of the shipping container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view showing the construction of a slide block ofthe shipping container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the construction of a clamp wallwith its compressible surface of the shipping container of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a section view, partly fragmented, showing the engagement of afree end of a connecting bar engaged in compression in the compressiblesurface of the clamp wall.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there isshown generally at 10 a shipping container in accordance with thepresent disclosure, for immovably and detachably supporting fragilepanels, such as the glass panels illustrated herein. As herein shown,the glass panels 11 are of different sizes. Moreover, there may bepanels 11 that are not glass, but like fragile panels. The expression“fragile” is used in reference to the fact that the panels 11 must beprotected from contact. In some instances, the panels may be thicktempered glass, not fragile per se, yet necessitating protection fromcontact with other fragile panels or with other objects duringtransportation.

The shipping container 10 comprises a floor or floor panel 12 and anupright panel 13, both of which are formed with spaced-apart grooves 14and 15, respectively, on their adjacent surfaces 12′ and 13′. Theexpression panel is used for the frame portions 12 and 13, due to theiroverall flat and rectangular shape. The panels 12 and 13 are made of anyappropriate material(s) providing suitable structural integrity in lightof supporting glass panels 11, taking into account the weight of suchpanels 11. In an embodiment, the panels 12 and 13 are formed of polymerssuch as HPDE plastics with the grooves integrally formed. The uprightpanel 13 extends upwardly in relation to the floor 12, herein at a rightangle thereto (i.e., for the rectangular shape of the panels 11),although other arrangements may be considered as a function of the shapeof panels 11 being supported. The grooves 14 and 15 in the floor panel12 and the upright panel constitute panel restraining means fortransporting the glass panels 11 in spaced-apart parallel planes, asthey concurrently restrain the panels 11 from out-of-plane movement.Removable rigid panel connecting bars 16, of identical lengths, areremovably connected to a top edge 11′ of the glass panels 11, and havean end received in the grooves 15 of the upright panel 13.

With additional reference to FIG. 4, it can be seen that a clamp panelor wall 17, substantially of the same size as the upright panel 13, isprovided to clamp the connecting bars 16 in an immovable position. Theclamp wall 17 comprises a frame 18 and a rigid outer panel 19. A sheet20 of compressible material is secured to the rigid outer panel 19 on aninner side thereof facing the grooved surface 13′ of the upright panel13. The compressible material as hereinshown, is constituted by a foamsheet of suitable thickness, herein 1 inch in thickness. Thecompressible material is preferably, of a type having a memory andthereby capable of substantially restoring its form after beingcompressed (e.g., expanded polypropylene, expanded polyethylene, Arcel,or any other appropriate foam). It is also contemplated that this sheetof compressible material 20 may be replaceable after a predeterminednumber of uses of the shipping container 10.

The clamp wall 17 may also be provided with pivotal connecting arms 21secured adjacent to each corner of the clamp wall 17 on a pivotconnection 22 secured to the frame 18 vertical side edges. Only the twoof these pivotal connecting arms 21 are shown in FIG. 1, but there aretwo additional ones on the other vertical side edge of the clamp wall17, as shown in FIG. 4. These pivotal connecting arms 21 are engagablewith a latching mechanism 23 as will be described later. Otherconfigurations with more or less of such arms 21 may be provided.Moreover, these arms 21 may consist of other materials, such as elasticchords, etc.

Referring again to FIG. 1, and additionally to FIGS. 2 and 3, there isshown the construction of the rigid panel connecting bars 16. Thesepanel connecting bars 16 are constructed of a rigid material, such asrigid plastics material, and are provided with one or more slide blocks25 slidably attached thereto. These slide blocks 25 are constructed ofrigid material or semi-rigid materials, e.g., metals such as aluminum,polymers, etc and provided with a through slot 26 to slidingly receivethe panel connecting bar 16 therethrough, and thus form a translationaljoint thereon. As shown in FIG. 2, slide block 25 is provided with apanel receiving slot 27 in a bottom surface 28 thereof for receivingtherein an upper edge portion 11′ of an associated one of the fragileglass panels 11, as shown in FIG. 1. These slide blocks 25 may also bearrested at a desired location along the panel connecting bars 16 by ametal plunger 29 or set screw securable in a tapped hole 29′, amongnumerous possible configurations. As also shown in FIG. 2, a slide block25′ is similar to the slide block 25, but is provided with a partialslot 30 therein whereby a slot butt end 31 is formed in the slide block25′ to abut a corner portion 32 of the glass sheet 11, as shown inFIG. 1. With the connecting bar 16 and slide blocks 25 and 25′ beingpositioned over the top edges 11′ of respective ones of the glass panels11, the clamp wall 17 is then positioned on the ledge 35 formed by thefloor panel 36 of the shipping container and ready to be clamped againstthe free ends 16′ of the panel connecting bars 16. The ledge 35 and thebottom of the clamp wall 17 may be provided with complementaryengagement means. As previously mentioned, these bars 16 are of equallengths and therefore each of these free ends will abut against thesheet 20 of compressible material. With the clamp wall 17 thus supportedon the ledge 35, the pivotal connecting arms 21 are then engaged withthe latch mechanism 23.

The latch mechanism 23 is herein defined by a pair of pivoting tongues40 secured to a vertical side post 39 of the frame 38 on which the floorpanel 12 and the upright panel are secured. Each of the pivoting tongues40 are displaceable on a pivot pin 41. The pivoting tongues 40 are alsoprovided with a connecting pin 42 spaced from the pivot pin 41 and onwhich the hook end formation 43 of an associated pivotal connecting arm21 is engaged. The pivoting tongues 40 may be pivotally connected to oneanother by a link rod 44. A handle 45 is used to displace the lowerpivoting tongue 40 and consequently the upper pivoting tongue via thelink rod 44, to position the connecting pins 42 substantially alignedwith the vertical side post 39, whereby the hook end formation 43 of thepivotal connecting arms 21 can be engaged with the connecting pins 42.At this position, the outer surface of the sheet 20 of compressiblematerial lies against the free ends 16′ of the panel connecting bars 16or very close thereto. The latch mechanism 23 is then clamped engaged bydisplacing the latch arm 45 downwardly in the direction of arrow 50 todraw the pivotal connecting arms 21, whereby the clamp wall 17 isdisplaced forwardly towards the upright panel 13 with the free end 16′of the panel connecting bar 16 penetrating into the resilient material20′ (about ¼ inch) as shown in FIG. 5. This compression of the resilientmaterial 20′ generates a compression force into the panel connectingbars 16 which are held captively secured between the clamp wall 17 andthe upright panel 13. For this purpose, a rubber plug or the like may beprovided on the ends of the connecting bars 16 abutting against thegrooved surface 13′ of the upright panel 13. The foam material alsoprovides vibration damping during transportation of the shippingcontainer by transport vehicles. With all of the panel connecting bars16 immovably secured in position, all of the glass panels 11 areimmovably retained in the shipping container. Of course, if desirable,the shipping container 10 may be fitted with side panels and a top wallto provide a fully protective enclosure for the glass panels and/or beshrink-wrapped.

The present disclosure also contemplates a method of immovably anddetachably supporting fragile panels in the shipping container 10. Themethod contemplates the steps of positioning one or more of the fragilepanels, herein glass panels 11, upright and supportingly engaged viatheir opposed side and bottom edge thereof by the panel receivinggrooves 14 and 15, as previously described. The method furthercontemplates positioning the removable panel connecting bars 16 engagedover the top edge of each of the fragile panels 11 and then restrainingthe panel connecting bars. In positioning the panel connecting bars 16,the slide blocks 25 and/or 25′ are slid along the panel connecting bars16, as a function of the size of the panels 11, for the slide blocks 25and 25′ to respectively cover a generally central portion of the topedge 11′ and the corner 32 thereof, and securing the slide blocks and25′ in the appropriate position along the panel connecting bars 16. Thestep of restraining the panel connecting bars 16 is done by applying thecompressible material sheet 20 against the free end 16′ of panelconnecting bars by clampingly displacing the clamp wall 17 against thefree ends 16′ of the panel connecting bars 16 to urge the compressiblematerial 20 against the free end 16′ of the connecting bars 16, toretain the connecting bars 16 from displacement between the panel 13 andthe clamp wall 17 by compression. The clamp wall 17 is latched andtightened to the panel 13 for transportation.

Still in accordance with the method, once the clamp wall 17 is removedfrom a remainder of the shipping container 10, the connecting bars 16may be removed, with the panels 11 remaining in an upright position byengagement in the grooves 14 and 15. As the clamp wall 17 is removed,lateral access to all panels 11 is provided. In other words, a person orequipment standing to the right-hand side of the container 10 in FIG. 1can pull out any of the panels 11. The panel 11 being pulled out movesalong its own plane.

It is within the ambit of the present disclosure to cover any obviousmodifications of the preferred embodiment described herein provided suchmodifications fall within the scope of the appended claims. Forinstance, the resilience may be provided by a plug at either or bothends of the connecting bars 16 instead of by the resilient materialsheet on the clamp wall 17. Likewise, strips of resilient material maybe provided in the grooves 14 and 15. In the case of strips of resilientmaterial in the grooves 15, such strips could provide the elasticityrequired to clamp the connecting bars 16 between the panel 13 and theclamp wall 17.

The panels 12 and 13, described and shown as solid wall components withgrooves 14 and 15 defined therein, could have other configurations aswell. For instance, the panels 12 and 13 could be rectangular frameswith elongated troughs define the restraining grooves 14 and 15. As yetanother alternative, the panels 12 and 13 could have generally planarcontact surfaces, with pins or like restraining members projecting fromthe contact surfaces to restrain the panels 11 from out-of-planemovement. These are just a few configuration among many others.

1. A shipping container for detachably supporting fragile panelstherein, said shipping container comprising a floor and an upright panelextending upwardly in relation to said floor, panel restraining means inadjacent surfaces of said floor and said upright panel for supportingsaid fragile panels in spaced-apart generally parallel planes, a clamppanel adapted to be detachably connected to the shipping container andbe upright and spaced apart from the upright panel with the fragilepanels between the upright panel and the clamp panel, removable rigidpanel connecting bars of substantially identical lengths removablyconnectable to a top edge of said fragile panels and held between theupright panel and the clamp panel, and resilient means to restrain saidconnecting bars from displacement by a compression force exerted onopposed ends of said panel connecting bars.
 2. A shipping container asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient means is defined by aresilient surface in the clamp panel adapted to be positioned against afirst end of said panel connecting bars, an opposed end of said panelconnecting bars abutting said upright panel, and clamping means to urgesaid resilient surface against said first end of said panel connectingbars to generate said compression force.
 3. A shipping container asclaimed in claim 2 wherein said resilient surface is constituted by apanel of resilient foam material having at least a partial memorycharacteristic.
 4. A shipping container as claimed in claim 2 whereinsaid clamping means is comprised by pivotal connecting arms pivotallyconnected to opposed vertical side edges of said clamp panel and adaptedto be secured to a latching mechanism secured to opposed vertical sideedges of said upright panel, said latching mechanism being displaceableto apply a pulling force on said pivotal connecting arms to displacesaid clamp panel towards said upright panel a predetermined distance tocause the compression force on said first end of said panel connectingbars.
 5. A shipping container as claimed in claim 4 wherein said opposedvertical side edges of said clamp panel and opposed vertical side edgesof said upright panel are supported along parallel vertical planestransversally extending between said upright panel and said clamp panel.6. A shipping container as claimed in claim 1 wherein said panelrestraining means is constituted by a plurality of panel edge restraintsassociated with said adjacent surfaces of said floor and upright panel,said restraints in said floor and upright panel being alignedco-extensively to support said fragile panels in upright parallelvertical planes.
 7. A shipping container as claimed in claim 6 whereinsaid panel edge restraints are straight parallel grooves integrallyformed in said floor and upright panel.
 8. A shipping container asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said panel connecting bars are each providedwith at least one slide block slideably secured thereto, said at leastone slide block having a panel receiving slot in a bottom surfacethereof for receiving therein an upper edge portion of an associated oneof said fragile panels.
 9. A shipping container as claimed in claim 8,wherein the at least one slide block comprises block arresting means toimmovably set said side blocks at predetermined locations along saidpanel connecting bars.
 10. A shipping container as claimed in claim 8wherein said panel receiving slot is one of a through slot, and apartial slot having a butt end adapted to abut against a corner of thefragile panel.
 11. A shipping container as claimed in claim 10 whereintwo of said slide blocks are provided on each said panel connecting bar,with one of the two slide blocks having said through slot and another ofthe two slide blocks having a butt end.
 12. A method of detachablysupporting fragile panels in a shipping container, said container havinga floor and an upright panel extending upwardly in relation to saidfloor, said upright panel and floor having panel restraining means inadjacent surfaces thereof, said method comprising: i) positioning one ormore of said fragile panels upright and supportingly engaged in a bottomedge and adjacent side edge thereof by said restraining means, ii)positioning a removable panel connecting bar engaged with a top edge ofan associated one of said one or more fragile panels, and iii)restraining said panel connecting bars with compression force byconnecting a clamp panel to the shipping container in such a way thatthe panel connection bars are held between the clamp panel and theupright panel.
 13. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein restrainingsaid panel connecting bars comprises clamping said connecting barsbetween said upright panel and said clamp panel using a compressiblesurface on the clamp panel urged against a free end of said panelconnecting bars.
 14. A method as claimed in claim 13 wherein positioninga removable panel connecting bar comprises adjusting a position of atleast one sliding block along each said panel connecting bar, such thatthe at least one sliding block for receiving in a slot of the at leastone sliding block an upper edge portion of an associated one of saidfragile panels.
 15. A method as claimed in claim 15 wherein adjusting aposition of at least one sliding block along each said panel connectingbar comprises immovably setting the at least one sliding block in saidposition.
 16. A method as claimed in claim 13, wherein connecting theclamp panel to the shipping container comprises latching and clampingthe clamp panel to the upright panel, and clamping the clamp panel tothe upright panel to apply the compression force on the panel connectingbars.
 17. A method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising removingthe clamp panel, and any one of the panel connecting bars, and pullingone said fragile panel associated with the removed panel connecting barout of the shipping container, the pulling being in the plane of thefragile panel.